'Meet a Muslim' effort meets downtown Cleveland

Sohaib Awan, left, and Safeer Ahmad were among members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association who took the "True Islam" campaign to downtown Cleveland on Saturday.

(Tom Feran, The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- On downtown sidewalks where someone standing with a sign might be expected to be panhandling, half a dozen young men on Saturday gave away smiles and information.

Holding signs reading "Meet a Muslim" and "Ask me anything," they answered questions, handed out pamphlets explaining "True Islam" and tried to correct misconceptions that they say play into the hands of extremists and terrorists.

Safeer Ahmad of North Canton, a freshman at Ohio State University, noted that a Pew Research Center survey found that 62 percent of Americans had never met a Muslim.

"We want to change that," he said. "People fear what they don't know."

"Most ask about whether Islam promotes violence," said Sohaib Awan of Ravenna, a second-year student at Northeast Ohio Medical University. "They see what the media shows from the Mideast, and they draw conclusions based on that.

"The teaching of Islam is that when any person kills another, it's as if that person has killed all of humanity. And a person who saves another person, it's as if that person had saved all of humanity.

"The fundamental teaching is the sanctity of life. That is the biggest point we're trying to get across."

"Everyone's been pretty positive," Ahmad said, noting they'd received handshakes, high-fives, hugs and even $5 from "a guy who said it was to get coffee and warm up."

Their effort was part of a nationwide campaign in 85 cities on Saturday by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association designed to counter stereotypes and extremism.

Among the points they made most frequently were that Islam rejects all forms of terrorism; supports the separation of church and state; believes in the equality of women, and says "no religion can monopolize salvation."